I honestly believe it to be The Simpsons. No, I’m not posting this on here because I wanna brag about how awesome the Frank Grimes episode is or how The Simpsons is better than South Park despite being a mediocre show for a while now and no longer being relevant.

No. I’m doing this in the hopes of fielding any suggestions because of…that’s right, The Simpsons.

I’m now watching Season 14 because I overwatched the shit out of the classics and the show definitely loses a lot of its lustre after Season 10 out of 1,075.

I need to watch something else.

So, what do you think is the funniest show ever?

Please note: If you say Family Guy that’s fine, whatever. However, I’m going to tell you that I’ve seen it and while it has its moments, it’s just an inferior Simpsons knockoff. Yes, I’m aware that I’m a snobby elitist.

Also, I’ve tried watching Community and I just can’t stand it. Granted, I just saw one episode but it was lousy.

It was like watching a Millennial hipster talk about fair trade coffee. Absolutely nauseating.

So, fire what you got at me because I’ve finished watching The Simpsons and my VHS can no longer play my Mr. Bean tapes.

It had been a while since I saw a comedy film, so I decided to watch the under the radar High Anxiety by Mel Brooks. A spoof of Hitchcock film, High Anxiety combines silly, Airplane-esque ( ironic since its older than Airplane) humour with parodies of classic suspense films.

The film doesn’t have the same level of notoriety as Blazing Saddles has, nor does it have the acclaim of The Producers. Nevertheless, it is a film with timely laughs that is worth seeing.

Mel Brooks plays psychologist Richard Thorndyke, an ode to Cary Grant’s Thornhill in North by Northwest. He also has a vertigo like condition, hilariously named ‘High Anxiety.’

The film ‘s absurd tone is consistent throughout the movie and is probably the best part of it. Another highlight is Cloris Leachman, who plays the hilariously hideous Nurse Diesel. She is incredibly awful to look at, and utterly convincing in the role. This ultimately makes Nurse Diesel the funniest character in the film.

So, if you’re in the mood for a funny movie and don’t know what to watch, try High Anxiety. It’s a bit cheesy in some parts but the script is very funny and makes for an easy film to get into during this dreary time of year.

One of my favourite things about Netflix is their penchant for releasing great comedy specials. From classics like Bill Hicks’ Sane Man, to Dave Chapelle’s return, Netflix is making comedy specials relevant again.

The best part about Netflix comedy specials is that they provide a variety of different comedians for viewers to watch without having to watch segments or single bits like is done on YouTube.

Netflix has exposed me to comedians I had never heard of prior to watching their specials. I had never seen a single Anthony Jeselnik video prior to Netflix. After watching his special, I sought out more of his dark, brooding comedy online. It’s the same with Tom Segura. After I watched his specials, I started to watch his stand-up and podcast appearances.

Most importantly, Netflix specials are great for comedians for the same reasons I listed above. Norm Macdonald’s special has opened up his comedy to an entire generation of young adults. The world needs Norm, and who knows, he might need the cash these days (I doubt Mike Tyson Mysteries provides enough money for him to live off of).

So, if you have Netflix, check out some of the standup specials on there. You might find someone funny to follow up on later.

While perhaps not the most pleasant way to come up with comedy gold, tragedies, both real and fictional, can provide a great springboard to a great joke.

Since death is such a serious and powerful part of life, jokes about death have a special advantage over other jokes because they are so much easier to make absurd.

Below is an example of an absolute masterpiece of a death joke.

The ridiculousness of this death and the reaction by the parents is so immense that the joke fulfills its obligation to be funny, and then some.

And I know explaining why a joke is funny can take away from the joke itself, so I wanted whomever reads this blog to at least enjoy the joke first.

Now, onto real life.

I enjoy dark comedy but I’e generally done it from at least a few lengths away, i.e. the tragedy wasn’t sad on a personal level.

However, now that a certain sad event in my life will be happening soon, (don’t worry everyone, I’m healthy) I’ve thought about how I can joke about it. And I’ve thought of some jokes, some good and some not so good, about this inevitable event. I won’t post them here because I don’t want someone in my family to see them, but I do want to say them anyway.

So, my advice for anyone who wants to tell a joke bout a real life tragedy — change the subject to a fictional one.

This is what I call my standup process. It’s a very immediate form of writing jokes that I’ve done for ages.

I’ve changed my approach for writing sketch comedy, and the transition to this new style of comedy is not easy to make. It requires far more work, creativity, and precision. The only aspect of sketch comedy writing I can think of that makes it easier than standup is the ability to edit and do retakes. However, this only works if your sketch show isn’t live.

Beyond writing, filming sketch comedy is a time consuming task that never feels as rewarding as when you perform standup. The laughs don’t come immediately and the atmosphere isn’t exciting. But there is also less pressure. Think of standup as a sport, in which one practices in order to deliver a live product, whereas filmed sketch comedy is like recording an album, where the end product matters more than the experience and perfection is paramount.

Who am I kidding, though? I’ve just about made the amateur-est, low-budget-est sketch comedy possible. But still, the time and consideration that has gone into making this project is far greater than some standup bit I pulled out of my ass.

However, this doesn’t mean that I didn’t pull any of my sketch comedy scenes out of my ass. No, it just means that, to a certain extent, I polished and wiped these scenes after I crapped them out.

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is what I’d call a “lazy man’s show”. It’s exactly what the title says it is. Jerry Seinfeld drives a usually exotic vehicle to pick up a famous friend and get coffee. I know, mind blowing.

It’s the type of show that makes you think, “boy, this is dull,” just from the title. But, I thought, I guess Seinfeld deserves a break.

Then I watched an episode with, you guessed it, Norm Macdonald as the guest. It was hilarious. And not just Norm, Seinfeld was too. He has a knack for playing well off his guests. With Norm, he is a perfect foil as the straight man. With Aziz Ansari, he acts as the mentor, joking with the Parks and Recreation star, as if he’s Aziz’s father.

He also knows the perfect topic to talk about. When Jim Gaffigan was on the show, they talk non-stop about food. When Jon Stewart was on, they talked politics. Most importantly, no matter what he talks about, Seinfeld makes sure that what he and the guest are talking about is funny.

The show also has surprisingly poignant moments. In one episode, longtime friend and the now deceased host of the The Larry Sanders Show, Garry Shandling, talk about their fond memories of Robin Williams. The episode was still very funny but it had a very bittersweet tone, which has been exacerbated now that Shandling is gone.

All in all, I love this show and I’m binging it right now on Netflix. If you like simple conversational laughs shared between comedy legends, there is no better show to watch than Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.